Gijs Assmann

Gijs Assmann makes drawings, collages, sculptures and spatial installations in which he expresses his engagement with human emotions and the facts of life: compelling, disarming, challenging, personal and sincere.

Assmann has made many sculptures for the public space and exhibits in past years, among others, with solo exhibitions in Schloss Ahaus (Germany), the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam and Museum Jan Cunen in Oss, and recently in a group presentation at Kunstmuseum Den Haag.

Assmann studied at the AKI Academy of Art & Design in Enschede and the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam. He was artist in residence at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam and the European Ceramic WorkCentre (EKWC), Oisterwijk. His work is exhibited both nationally and internationally and is represented in diverse public and private collections, including the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam and Kunstmuseum Den Haag. Since 1999, Assmann has also fulfilled various positions in the field of art education, including coordinator of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie Ceramics Department and currently as tutor Handiwork and Materiality for the department of Fine Arts at ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem and as mentor for the Master Contextual Design at the Design Academy Eindhoven.

“The production process of ‘Pendulum’ was a fantastic spectacle. Not only did I see a technical and logistical tour de force, the sculpture seems to have been literally extracted from the earth and raw materials and transformed into radiant light: from dark to light in a convincing, clear, luminous, mirrored form without beginning or end.”

Gijs Assmann June 2020